Connecticut
Post posts about what is happening in the State of Connecticut.
Media and Shootings
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 05/07/2009 - 11:58Yesterday, Johanna Justin-Jinich was shot dead by a gunman at Wesleyan University. I've been following the news online and getting additional information from my wife who has been talking with students there.
This morning, I found Rick Green's blog post out the Hartford Courant site, Wesleyan U. shooting tragedy: old media still dominates
While I appreciate the collection of links that he gathered, I found the tone a bit offensive and wrote the following comment:
I must admit, I find the headline and focus of this story a bit offensive.
Yesterday, I got a phone call from my wife about the shooting. She let me know that none of our friends had been hurt. Last night, I went to hear Tom Swan, Ned Lamont and Jim Dean talk about health care issues in our state.
We had a moment of silence.
This morning, my wife called again. Students have been advised to stay indoors and faculty have been warned not to come to campus. While there is probably no safe way for the students to get off the campus at this point, she offered our house as a place to get away from the horror when it is safe if they need it.
Johanna Justin-Jinich is dead. Spring Fling has been canceled. My "new media" response has been to send a message on Twitter and Facebook offering prayers for the family and friends of Johanna Justin-Jinich and all the students at Wesleyan University while the gunman is still loose.
Friends have joined in, commenting about the tragedy.
Yes, I am subdued. So are my friends and apparently the Wesleyan Argus.
While I appreciate you providing a good set of links to various news sources about the shooting, it seems like being subdued is much more responsible than crowing about the old media dominating.
It may be headlines like this that drive more and more people away from the old media to new media.
I cannot help but wonder how this relates to the SPJ's Code of Ethics where it talks about showing compassion "for those who may be affected adversely by news coverage" and "being sensitive ... of those affected by tragedy or grief."
News gathering is about much more than just providing information quicker than someone else, it is about providing context. Can we get context from the Courant?
Update 1:
Woodbridge Reflections
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 05/05/2009 - 17:11Yesterday, Woodbridge voters went to the polls to vote in the municipal elections and the results were striking. First Selectman Ed Sheehy was easily re-elected receiving 1558 votes; nearly twice as many as his opponent Ken Colabella.
As is often the case, Mr. Sheehy, as the standard bearer for the Democratic ticket received more votes than any of the other Democratic candidates. Yet in one of the surprises of the night, Mr. Colabella, the standard bearer for the Republicans received less votes than any other Republican candidate.
Looking more closely, David Bernard, one of the Democratic candidates for the Zoning Board of Appeals, received the fewest votes by a Democrat; 1141. Philip “Buddy” DeGennaro, a Republican running for the same seat received the most votes of any Republican; 1120. Yes, the Democrat with the least votes on the whole ticket beat the Republican with the most votes on their whole ticket by 21 votes. It isn’t a good sign for the Republicans.
As a “big D” Democrat, I am elated. The Democrats stayed on their message and got their vote out, even though voter turnout was on the low side, as it was in Bethany as well. At a party at Democratic headquarters after the election, Mr. Sheehy continued to stay on message and talk about the accomplishments of his administration as well as the return of civility in local political discourse.
As he spoke about these things, I thought of my visit to the Massaro farm the day before. The farm was left to Woodbridge to be preserved as open space. The farm is being renovated as a community farm and people from the community toured the farm on Sunday. (For pictures, check my Massaro Farm Pictures on Flickr.)
I thought about the comments Amy Thompson, a community organizer for healthcare4every1.org who spent time outside the polls to gather support for their cause. She spoke of the Woodbridge Democrats saying, "They were so wonderful, if I ever move anywhere, I want to move to Woodbridge."
Yet as a “small d” democrat, I am concerned. We need to hear multiple views in our civic discourse. I’m glad that there are provisions for the minority party to have seats on the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Education, and I’m particularly glad that Dr. Steven Fleischman will have one of those seats.
The question is, will the Republicans be able to civilly bring up well thought out alternatives to the proposals of the Democrats in Woodbridge? If so, I believe they will be more successful and the town will be better of. If not, they are likely to have further difficulties.
Perhaps the microcosm of our town is a useful indication of the issues that the Republican Party faces nationally. To the extent that the national party remains mired in unconstructive negativity, they will continue to be less and less relevant. For the sake of a vibrant democracy, I hope that we can move towards more respectful civil discourse, both here in Woodbridge and across our great country.
Clean Sweep
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 05/04/2009 - 21:24The Democratic Ticket has a clean sweep in the 2009 Municipal elections in Woodbridge. We would like to thank everyone who volunteered and helped in so many ways.
Yet there is so much more to do. Please contact us if you wish to remain involved, or get even more involved by serving the community on a board, commission or in other ways.
At the celebration, Ed Sheehy thanked everyone who has gotten involved in our local government, and especially for those who have worked so hard to bring civility back to our political process.
Municipal Election - 10:00 AM, 470
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 05/04/2009 - 10:59
It's Election Day in Woodbridge. As of 10 AM, 470 people have gotten out to vote. When I voted at 10:25, the number was up to 515.
Please, get out and vote!
Update:
As of 2 PM, 1018 people have voted. There are also widespread reports of signs being stolen.
Update 2:
Around 3 PM, approximately 1300 people have voted. Party regulars from both sides are reportedly busy calling all their supporters.
The sign theft is now being attributed to the highway department picking up signs on the side of state highways. Others maintain that the signs by the side of the state highways were sufficiently set back so the Highway Department should not have taken them.
At 5 PM, the voter turnout was 1659.
Woodbridge Municipal Election Thoughts
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 05/03/2009 - 12:16Last Thursday, I wrote a blog post in response to a person who only identifies himself as Wimps Begone. At the end of the post, I encouraged everyone to get out and vote for the whole Democratic slate.
Several Republicans wrote, encouraging me to consider the individual candidates and not vote strictly on party lines. As a Democrat, I am more likely to vote for a person on the Democratic line than I am to vote for people on other lines, but I have voted on other party lines in the past and will continue to do so going forward.
It is with this in mind, that I have decided to write my thoughts on the different candidates. It is based on reading material I’ve received in the mail, talking with the candidates at various events, observing them in action at various meetings, and assorted other events.
First Selectman: The choice is clear. Our current First Selectman, Ed Sheehy, has done a great job and deserves to be re-elected. Even if he had done a merely adequate job as First Selectman, he would still be a much better candidate than Ken Colabella. Ken’s campaign has been abysmal and he has not come forward with anything that makes me want to vote for him.
Board of Selectmen: Jim Sabshin has been on the Board of Selectmen since 2001. He is bright, friendly and committed to our town. He clearly deserves re-election.
Sandy Stein has been on the Board of Selectmen since 2005 and I would describe her as bright, friendly and committed to our town as well, and I’m glad to support her.
Beth Heller has only been on the Board of Selectmen since 2008. However, she has served in many roles in our town since 1997. I have had many great discussions with her about our town, and she clearly deserves re-election.
William Fox has been on the Board of Selectmen since 2007. I have not had a chance to speak with him the way I have had with the Democratic candidates. He has seemed to comport himself well at the Board of Selectmen meetings I’ve seen. As such, I don’t see any reason to vote against him, but I don’t see any reason to vote for him over any of the Democratic candidates.
Laura Fernandes has been on the Board of Selectmen since 2006. I have the same feelings about Ms. Fernandes as I do about Mr. Fox.
Thomas Kenfick has not served on the Board of Selectmen. He is a State Certified Firefighter II and an Emergency Medical Technician. I expect he may get good support from some of the volunteer firefighters in town. Beyond that, I don’t believe I’ve ever met him, and have no opinion of him.
Woodbridge Board of Education: Sheila McCreven is currently chair of the Woodbridge Board of Education. I know Sheila very well and have the highest regard for her activities as Chair of the Woodbridge Board of Education, as well as her activities with the PTO, the technology committee at the school, and many other events around town. Woodbridge is very fortunate to have someone like Ms. Creven on the Woodbridge Board of Education and she strongly deserves re-election.
YanYun Wu is not currently on the Woodbridge Board of Education. However, she has a daughter that is a classmate of my daughter. Her background of studying both in the United States and in China I believe is extremely valuable and I am struck by her considerable intelligence. I believe she would be a great Board of Education member.
Clotilde Dudley Smith served on the Woodbridge Board of Education several years ago. I don’t know her as well as I know Ms. McCreven or Dr. Wu, but have been impressed with discussions I’ve had with her.
Steve Fleischman is not on the Woodbridge Board of Education. However, he has attended several Board of Education meetings and I respect him greatly for that. During the debate, he spoke about using Twitter, which he doesn’t use a lot, but I applaud him for making himself available through Twitter and elsewhere. He commented on this blog encouraging people to vote for individuals, and not on party lines. If there was a Republican that I would consider voting for on the Woodbridge Board of Education, it would be Dr. Fleischman. However, for the Woodbridge Board of Education, I intend to vote on party lines, out of my respect for Ms. McCreven. If the Democrats do not get three of the five seats, then we stand to lose Ms. McCreven as chair of the board, and potentially get someone much, much worse. If Dr. Fleischman were running as a Democrat, or if he would pledge to vote for a Democrat as chair, I would vote for him in a heartbeat.
Matt Gilbridge has an impressive bio on the card sent out by the Woodbridge Republicans. However, I was not impressed with his debate performance. He didn’t say anything I objected to. He just didn’t seem to say anything.
David Barkin is currently Vice Chair of the Woodbridge Board of Education. He seems like a nice enough person, but I have not been impressed with him at Board of Education meetings or at the debate. I believe that new technology like Twitter is important and I applaud the school for striving to make good use of technology to improve the education of our students. I did not believe that his comments about Twitter at the debate were helpful. More importantly, I was particularly unimpressed with his comments about curriculum. I believe that the people of Woodbridge should have opinions about curriculum that should be expressed through the school board to the school administration. I believe that there are many bright citizens in our town that we should be encouraging to get more involved in our school, including helping arrange field trips like my wife did this year, in suggesting ideas on how teachers can better use technology or cover subject material. I just cannot support Mr. Barkin for Board of Education.
Amity Board of Education:
Pat Cardozo is running as a first time candidate for Amity Board of Education. She is a realtor in town who recognizes the importance of a strong education system in maintaining property values. I have been very impressed with her in discussions that I have and I strongly endorse her.
Rita Gedansky has been on the Amity Board of Education since 2001. I have only had brief opportunities to talk with her. She is currently chair of the Curriculum Committee, which you will understand from my previous comments, I consider to be very important. I am supporting Mrs. Gedansky for re-election.
The two Republican candidates are Dan Burns and Chris DeLeone. I know very little about them, and see no reason to vote for them.
Zoning Board of Appeal
I really don’t know any of these candidates, only what I’ve read online and in various mailings. The Republican candidates look better on paper than what I’ve seen from the Democrats. Since I know so little about any of the candidates, I may decide to not vote for any of them. I may decide to vote for the Republicans based on their biographies in the written material, or I may vote for the Democrats out of support for the party. I am undecided at this point.
One special exception is Buddy Britton who is running for Zoning Board of Appeal Alternate as the Republican candidate. Buddy contacted me about my blog post and wrote very well about his concerns. Other than what I could find about Benson Snaider through Google searches, I know nothing about him, and so I am leaning towards Mr. Britton.
Board of Assessment Appeals: I am also currently undecided in this race. Republican candidate Greg Coyne is the incumbent. He looks good on paper, but I’ve never spoken with him. Lisa Stanger, the Democratic candidate also looks good on paper, but I’ve never spoken with her either. I remain undecided in this race.
So, there you have my thoughts on the different candidates. If you have additional thoughts or information about why I, and others that read this blog post, should vote for one candidate or another, please share them in the comments.
